Optibike takes first place in inaugural “assault on the peak”

BOULDER, Colo. — The electric bike team, Team Optibike, captured first place in the Aug. 29 “Assault on the Peak” race, a race to the top of Pikes Peak by 300 riders, according to a press release.

The 24.5-mile journey took the field of more than 300 riders up 7,700 feet to the summit at 14,000 feet with Team Optibike riders, Jim Turner and Kyle Hale, crossing the finish line first overall with a record time of one hour, 46 minutes and 59 seconds.

The electric bike duo maintained a consistent pace that was more than 30 minutes faster than the conventional bicycles and nearly beat the finish line set up crew, which proved to be an impressive showing for the Optibikes.

“The ‘Assault on the Peak’ serves as a great way for electric bicycle makers to showcase their technologies. We take great pride in developing the very best in high performance electric bicycles and the Pikes Peak event allowed us to showcase how advanced Optibike’s hill climbing ability is over the competition,” said Jim Turner, Optibike’s inventor.

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Team Optibike rode the first six miles in half-powered ‘eco’ mode, an option that is standard on every bike, to keep ahead of the lead group. Shortly after the entrance to Pikes Peak road, the pair shifted into full-powered ‘fast’ mode, leaving the rest of the field in the dust. The nearest electric bike was more than an hour behind Team Optibike at the finish, crossing the line in 2:59:14. Several other electric bikes entered the event but did not finish due to drained batteries.

“I could have run the whole race on one battery,” explained Hale at the finish. “I brought a second external battery as a back-up but I didn’t need it and the bike performed great.”